VERY RARE HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT COLLECTION OF WHITE HOUSE BRICKS, LOT OF 166, each of rectangular form, probably molded in a wooden mold and made from clay dug on or near the White House grounds. Included with the lot are letters from Mr. Harry J. Latham, a member of the House of Representative, and letters from Maj. Gen. Glen E. Edgerton in a cover marked "COMMISSION ON RENOVATION OF THE EXECUTIVE MANSION / THE WHITE HOUSE". Reserve. Circa 1792-1817. Each approximately 2 1/4" HOA, 8 1/4" LOA, 4" DOA.
Catalogue Note: Between 1948 and 1952, under the leadership of President Harry S. Truman, the White House underwent a massive renovation which changed the layout Executive Mansion even more than the restorations following the 1814 fire. Incredible photographs exist showing the interior of the White House completely gutted with large equipment in the basement, and a temporary steel structure supporting the building. The structure they removed was mostly built around 1815-1817 during the restoration following the fire. Some of the bricks were reused from the first phase of the original 1792 construction, but most were too damaged to be useful. The letters with the lot mention these being "the brick fireplace material."
The Commission on Renovation of the Executive Mansion was given the task of removing and disposing of any material removed during demolition, and in 1950, President Truman approved the creation of a souvenir program to offer mementoes to the public. The material was divided into classes with Class I being objects which “retain their identities after removal...which have intrinsic as well as historical value.” This included things such as mantels and other decorative architectural objects which were mostly gifted to various American institutions. Class II objects were “usable building material of considerable practical value, including radiators, electrical equipment...with little or no sentimental value and not readily identifiable as coming from the White House." This is the category in which the bricks were placed, and about 10,000 of these were sent to Fort Meyer for construction, as well as about 95,000 which were sent to Mt. Vernon for their restoration efforts. The present collection was taken from the bricks which were given to Fort Meyer, presumably from the excess not required for their project. 
Regarding the provenance after the retrieval at Fort Meyer, the consigner states "A Congressman friend of my grandfather's bought 2 of the largest White House souvenir "kits"--1200 lbs. of bricks and 1600 lbs. of stones from the commission and stored them at my grandfather's farm while apparently shopping for a house. The Congressman was given an arrangement to send "laborers" to the "pile" at Fort Meyer to pick out the material. He asked my grandfather if he could send my uncles, (who were in the stone business), with the intent of getting the largest and best selection. Sometime later, the Congressman took the stones but left most of the bricks for my grandfather. After my grandfather's death, the uncle who was a lifelong stone and masonry nerd, (when he went to Europe, he took mostly pictures of masons, masonry and stonework), took some of the bricks and my mother took the rest. My uncle stored his in his basement, so his have lots of lots of loose original mortar dust, my mother stored hers out of doors for a while, so they are somewhat cleaned off. After my uncle's death, my cousins gave his bricks to me."
The original letters from the Harry Latham and Maj. Gen. Edgerton corroborate this story with exact directions for collection of the bricks (which was limited to 200) and other stone materials. One letter from Latham jokes "Don't be surprised if Harry Truman drives up to the farm someday around February 15th behind the wheel of a truck and announces that he has two large boxes for Bob McKeever."
The significance of this fresh-to-the-market collection is primarily the size of the group (the large majority of the souvenir bricks were sold individually through mail order) and the rock solid provenance with the original documentation. This may very well be one of the last large groups of White House bricks in public hands.

Fair to very good condition with five of them being broken in half with both pieces retained and being from the same brick; approximately forty with moderate to heavy remnants of lime mortar; many with surface detritus, soot from either a fireplace flue or the 1814 burning of the White House, and other expected wear/damage; many with expected minor to moderate chipping and losses to the edges, some of which is probably as-made.

Estate of Regina M. Syrjala.
Gifted to Robert L. McKeever, Sandy Springs, MD.
Ex-collection Henry J. Latham.
Purchased from the Commission on Renovation of the Executive Mansion (See Catalogue Note for details).